Page 43 of Free Wind (Lifeguards of Barking Beach #2)

“Well, look who’s making an appearance!” Kat said with a wink as Blake and Cooper approached the clubbies. “Thought you were away or something?”

“Yeah, I was,” Blake said as he jammed the bottom of his surfboard into the sand. “Sorry I haven’t been in touch this week.”

Standing from their folding chair, Kat shrugged, though Blake sensed with a wince that they were a bit hurt. “Who’s this?” they asked, smiling at Cooper.

“Well, it’ll surprise you, but this is Cooper. My son.”

Cooper lifted a hand in a wave. “Hi.”

Jaw on the sand, Kat stared between them, looking like the personification of a “shocked” meme. “Yeah, that was unexpected! Hiya, Cooper. I’m Kat. How ya goin’?”

He grinned. “Great! We’re going surfing.”

Blake looked out at the swells again, putting what he hoped was a comforting hand on Coop’s shoulder. “I’m not sure, mate. It’s looking fierce already.”

He’d wanted to see the conditions close up before renting a board and wetsuit for Cooper, and there was no way he could take him out surfing today.

Kat nodded. “Yeah, gnarly swells today.”

“But you promised,” Cooper whined. “And you’re all ready!” He motioned to Blake’s short-sleeved wetsuit.

“I also promised your parents I’d keep you safe and sound.” He squeezed Coop’s bony shoulder. “Don’t worry—we’ll still have loads of fun.”

Another clubbie, Billy, looked up from his folding chair. “If you’re into sandcastles, my kids just started building the Perth bell tower. They’re about your age. I’ll bring you over if you want to join in?”

Coop looked up at Blake. “Can I?”

“Sure! I’ll have a chat to Kat and come over in a little bit. No swimming without me, okay? And keep your hat and rashie on.”

Billy’s kids were digging near the water between the flags, only about ten meters away, so Blake felt okay about letting Coop go. He watched the kids say hello, aware of Kat’s gaze boring into him.

“Uh, since when do you have a kid? You never mentioned!”

“I just found out. Right after the first night with Damo.”

“Wow. Seriously?”

“Yup. It’s been a lot to process.” His board leaned where it stood in the sand, and he propped it against his shoulder.

“I guess so. I was going to say, you kept that under your hat. Having a whole kid and all.” They laughed awkwardly. “I thought I’d gotten to know you pretty well the past few months.”

“You have.” He turned to face them. “I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch lately. It was shitty of me. I should’ve at least texted back. Even if it was only a thumbs-up or something.”

Kat screwed up their face under the brim of their red uniform cap. “Thumbs-up? Nah, I think silence was better.”

Blake sighed, the knot in his stomach tightening. “Yeah.” He’d been happy to get anything from Damo, but it hadn’t been particularly reassuring. He’d immediately looked for him when he and Cooper had arrived, but hadn’t spotted him yet.

“Right, you’re forgiven for temporarily ghosting me. Don’t let it happen again, and you can make it up to me by explaining how the hell you have a kid.” They went up on tiptoes in the sand and added, “Keeping an eye on that family clinging to the camel floatie. Have a feeling they can’t swim.”

Blake clocked them. “At least they’re between the flags. Been a busy morning so far?”

The radio beeped, and as Kat listened to a message, Blake watched Cooper and Billy’s kids pack wet sand into bright plastic buckets. Billy returned and muttered, “Bloody sandcastle’s gonna look like a pointy dildo, but it’ll keep ’em out of trouble for a while,” before taking his chair again.

Standing in the shade from the tent and not blocking Billy’s view, Kat belatedly answered Blake, “You can see it’s going to be chockers by lunchtime.” They lightly slapped his arm, gaze on the water. “Spill it. You said ‘parents’ to Cooper. What’s the story?”

Blake explained, answering a few of Kat’s and Billy’s questions. It felt good to talk about Cooper openly. He’d tell Rocky and the guys at work next week. He was officially a father.

Tash and Tony had let him take Coop to Barking just the two of them, and he watched his son laughing and playing with Billy’s kids with a surge of pride.

“Did you think about having kids before?” Kat asked, nodding to Billy as he went to fetch more water from the clubhouse that sat on one side of the grassy area beyond the boardwalk.

“Yeah. Not concretely, especially once I realized I’m gay. But distantly.” Digging his toes into the cool sand under the warm top layer, he added, “When I came out to my parents, my mum kept wailing that I’d never have children.”

Kat grimaced. “Yikes. Now you can rub it in her face that she was wrong.”

He laughed weakly. “Suppose so. I haven’t told my parents yet. I wanted to make sure Cooper would be interested in a relationship with me.”

“Seems like it.” Kat elbowed him lightly. “You’re doing a great job. Stop worrying. And stuff your parents if they don’t like it.”

“I’m sure they’ll be thrilled.” So why was he dreading telling them?

Kat lowered their voice as a few other of their fellow clubbies approached. “And Damo went with you to Bremer Bay?” They grinned.

“Yeah, it was great. Amazing.”

“Really? You should tell your face.”

“No, it was.”

God, he wished they could go back to that hotel room when it was just the two of them. Damo had told him about his dad’s accident, and Blake had felt so close to him. Not to mention being inside him for the first time.

“Then what happened?” Kat asked, frowning and scanning the water.

Blake watched Cooper digging a moat around the phallic tower. “There was an emergency with Damo’s father when we got home. Ambos were there. I tried to help but did a shit job of it.”

“Ah. Damo’s never liked talking about that. He and my younger brother were in the same year at school. I remember after the accident, Damo seemed to act like nothing’d happened.”

Blake glanced from Cooper to that family on the floatie.

Even between the flags, the waves were bigger than usual for morning.

“Yeah. He didn’t want to tell me about it at first. He did though—in Bremer Bay.

But then he was upset I went into the house, and now all I’ve heard from him from my apology text was an emoticon. ”

“Let me see.”

With a sigh, he showed Kat the screen with just the last message on it. And the thumbs-up.

“Oof. Maybe he didn’t know what to say?”

“Or maybe he never wants to talk to me again.”

“Nah. Not his style. You should—” Kat squinted to the right. “It’s going off north of the flags. And speak of the devil! There’s your man.”

My man.

Blake desperately wanted that to be true. Holding up a hand to shield his eyes, he peered over the growing crowd to see Damo running in with a rescue board, his golden hair gleaming in the sunlight.

God, Blake loved him so much.

He didn’t care if it was too fast. In that moment, with Barking Beach surging around him, people and crashing waves, salt filling the air under the sun’s power, he was floating outside himself, watching Damo almost in slow motion.

My man.

He peered out farther to spot the patient Damo was going for and realized there must have been a flash rip. Two people had likely been drawn to the calm channel of water, not realizing it would pull them out.

Déjà vu swallowed Blake in one gulp, his stomach dropping as he crashed back to earth, watching Damo paddle out toward the two drowning people. Heart thudding, he remembered how that Irishman had panicked.

That time, he’d been close enough to help. Now, he was too far away, and as Damo reached the patients—they were near in the impact zone.

Billy’s wife, Trish, scanned with binoculars and spoke into her radio. “Copy that.” To Billy and Kat, she said, “Lifeguards are under the pump. It’s going off again, so be ready to get wet.” She squinted at Blake. “You’re not on shift, but if you want to lend a hand—”

Blake scooped his board under his arm. He slowed a step as he neared Cooper, shouting, “Stay here! I’ll be right back.”

Blood rushing in his ears, he veered north, leaping over sunbakers and splashing into the water, watching the incoming swell, the water like quicksand as he tried to run through it.

He strapped the leash around his ankle and timed the shore break, tossing down his board and paddling hard. He’d never gone in for a real rescue as a clubbie, and adrenaline coursed through him with a roar.

Damo was in trouble. He was in danger, and Blake wouldn’t—couldn’t!—stand by and watch.

He caught the rip, the surge of the water frightening. It was hard to see Damo and the patients beyond the rise and fall of the growing swells… There!

Off to the right, he glimpsed Damo in the water, gripping his big rescue board and yelling at the patients in the water. It was just like before, and Blake swam sideways out of the rip toward them, kicking as powerfully as he could.

A massive wall of water loomed, and Damo tugged at arms and legs, helping the two women on the board. The woman in front slipped off with a cry, and Damo rolled the board under the curling wave.

Blake gulped in a breath and duck-dived under, pushing his board down and coming up with burning lungs.

Another wave barreled toward them, and Damo helped the women on the board as he looked back at the incoming set. Blake was close enough to hear him.

“Get on here. You’re right. Come on.” He directed one to the back of his board and pointed to the other and patted the board in front of him. “Quick!”

Damo had it under control, and Blake gripped his surfboard, realizing his mistake in charging out. Damo was paddling forward, and their eyes met.

Wide-eyed, Damo shouted something lost in the water’s roar—and then his board surged up as he caught the wave. It was too late for Blake to catch it, and he pushed his board down to dive under.

It was too late for that too.

Ricocheting violently under the surface, Blake ordered himself to relax. He’d wiped out on waves before, and he knew what to do.

Except the waves were never this big, and he’d barely had time to gasp in a breath before being pummeled.

He whipped back and forth like he was in a washing machine, the pressure on his lungs and diaphragm already too much. His board banged into his hip, and he kicked hard, reaching up for the surface—

Coral scraped his outstretched hands, ripping into his knuckles.

Wrong way!

His body was ready to snap with tension, white spots behind his eyes, and he forced himself to go limp, letting the water bring him to the surface for sweet, sweet air—

Another wave crashed on his head, slamming him down. The leash yanked on his ankle, digging into his flesh as the vortex of water tossed him and his board back and forth, up and down.

He breached the surface and gulped in a breath, salt on his lips before another wave hit, trapping him in the impact zone.